


Tattoo Ink and Flower Petals

by 3ds_Allen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Japanese Keith, M/M, Mexican Lance, Oops, Probably ooc, background shallura - Freeform, cant wait to throw lance's many siblings in, ive never written a fanfic before, keith is shiro's adopted brother in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 22:56:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7989211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3ds_Allen/pseuds/3ds_Allen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance is a tattoo artist at a tattoo parlor owned by his parents. Keith is a florist at a flower shop owned by his brother's girlfriend, located right across the street from the tattoo parlor. Gay happenings ensue (Also known as "a fic written by someone who doesn't know what they're doing")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Keith didn’t mind working in the flower shop. Sure, he was reluctant at first, but after the first week he decided it wasn’t all that bad. He found it almost relaxing even, being surrounded by plants in a tiny little store. Customers were few and far in between and were generally pleasant people. That was definitely an upside considering Keith had lost his previous job due to some irritating customers.

He’d managed to hold the job for a solid four months before he got fired for snapping at a few too many people. Barely twenty-four hours later, his brother’s girlfriend, Allura, was offering him a job in her flower shop. Allura was a very sweet girl, and Keith knew that she probably would have offered him the position even if his brother Shiro hadn’t asked her to. Keith knew he would never admit it, but Shiro really wanted to get him out of his house already. It didn’t bother him in the slightest, he’d been living with Shiro since he graduated high school and he was starting to get sick of how lovey-dovey him and Allura were getting. Of course, the small pay from a flower shop wasn’t going to get him even an apartment soon, but he was willing to be patient.  
  
It was getting late in the afternoon and Keith was at his usual spot, on a chair behind the counter. The afternoon sunlight shone in through the windows of the shop, making the inside seem even cozier than normal. Allura was in the back room at the time, he could hear her humming, and since it was later in the day Keith highly doubted anyone would be coming in. He was looking forward to the last hour of work being peaceful. Of course, right after he thought about the peace and quiet, he heard the bell on the door ring. He held back a groan as prepared to say his usual, “Welcome, can I help you with anything?”, but stopped when he laid eyes on the person who walked in.

The boy who entered the store was tall, not much taller than Keith, but tall. He had deep tanned skin, dark brown hair and stunning dark blue eyes. He glanced around the shop for a few moments before his eyes landed on Keith, who was still staring at him. As soon as they made eye contact, Keith seemed to find his voice.

“Uh, welcome, can I help you find anything?” He asked. The boy shook his head.

“Nah, I’m just looking. Thanks though.” He said, starting to walk around the store. Keith was relieved he wouldn’t have to get up. He tried to discreetly watch him from behind a book he had with him, but it was pretty obvious. He thought it was weird someone would go to a flower shop to just look. Eventually, when he was closer to the counter, Keith said,

“Why would you come to a flower shop just to look around?” The boy looked at him and gave him a smile that Keith could’ve sworn made the room brighter.

“Well, ya see, I know this girl. She’s super hot and I wanted to ask her out. I’m not sure how to do it though, and I thought flowers might help.” He explained, “So I wanted to check an actual flower store before I made my decision.” He said, coming over and leaning against the counter. Keith nodded slowly.

“Well, girls usually appreciate flowers, so it might be a good idea.” He told him. He decided it would be a good idea to listen to the voice in the back of his head, the one telling him he needed to stop thinking about how attractive this guy was immediately because not only was he most likely straight but he was also already interested in someone.

“I’m gonna think it over, but if I decide to do it I’ll stop by.” He said. He stood up straight again and headed for the door. “Maybe I’ll see ya later, flower boy.” He said before walking out the door, Keith still staring at where he’d been.

“Was that someone you know, Keith?” He heard Allura ask. He looked over to see her leaning against the door way to the back room. “You sure were staring quite a bit.” She said. He wondered how long she’d been watching, he was so focused on that guy he didn’t remember seeing her enter the room.

“No, no I don’t know him.” He said, shaking his head.

“Well, you sure seemed interested in him.” She said, causing his face to turn a light shade of pink. “Either way, it’s almost time to close up shop so, would you help me clean up?” She asked. He simply nodded, glad they were off the subject of the boy with the pretty blue eyes.


	2. Chapter Two

 “So you thought this guy was cute, and therefore you told him you were into some girl?” Lance’s friend Pidge asked later on that night.

 “Yes. But no. That’s not WHY I told him that, it’s just my excuse to go back and see him again.” Lance explained. They were sitting together at a table in their usual hang out spot, a restaurant owned by the family of their other friend, Hunk.

 “But if your intentions are to get with this guy, why would you tell him you have someone else?” She asked.  
  
 “Look Pidge, I didn’t have a lot of time to make up an excuse, ok?” He said, causing her to roll her eyes.  
   
 “What were you doing looking around a flower shop anyway?” She asked him.  
  
 “You think I was gonna watch the cute guy with a stupid hair cut walk into work every day and NOT go check him out?”  
  
 “Mm, guess you have a point.” She said with another roll of her eyes. “But whatever, good luck man.” She told him.

 

*****  
  
 The next day, when Lance finished work, he walked across the street to the flower shop. He took a moment to examine the plants displayed outside the shop before walking inside. He immediately looked to the counter and was pleased to see him standing there. When the little bell rang the boy looked up from the book he was reading, looking at Lance with his deep violet eyes.   
  
 “Hey, you came back.” He said, marking his place in the book and putting it down.  
  
 “Yeah, I decided to get her those flowers after all.” Lance told him.  
  
 “Alright. Did you already have some in mind?” He asked, standing up.   
  
 “Nope. I hoped you could help me with that.” He said.  
  
 “Well, that is my job. Do you at least know what kind this girl would like?” He asked.  
  
 “I have no clue. Uh, why don’t you choose what you think would be best?” Lance thought this was a good idea, he could find out what kind of flowers this guy liked best. “You are the flower boy here after all.”

 “Okay, before we get on with this let’s just establish, my name is not flower boy.” He said with a frown.  
  
 “Then would you do me the honor of telling me your name?” Lance asked him with a smile.

“It’s Keith.” He told him, walking around him to get to some flowers.  
  
 “Keith, huh? I think flower boy still suits you better. Or maybe mullet man.” He snickered, getting him a look from Keith that made it clear he was not amused.  
  
“Absolutely not. I told you my name, I’d appreciate it if you used it.” He told him. “Now get over here, I think you should give this girl these ones.” He presented Lance with a bouquet of beautiful red roses. “Are these good enough?” He asked.   
  
 “Yeah, yeah they’re perfect.” Lance told him. “I’ll take ‘em.”

 Lance ended up taking the flowers back to his apartment, putting them in a vase with some water, and preparing himself to get chewed out by Pidge for not even telling the cute flower oy his name. Sure enough, Pidge eventually gave him a call.

 “So, how did it go?” She asked. He could hear a bit of background noise and he assumed she was at the restaurant waiting for Hunk to get off work. Knowing Hunk that could be hours after he was supposed to, he was always staying to help his parents.  
  
 “It went fine.” Lance told him. “I even got his name.”  
  
 “Huh, that does sound like an improvement.” She said. “And you told him yours, right?”

 “…”

 “Lance.”

“…”

“Oh my god.” She snorted.

 “It’s not like it matters! I’m going back tomorrow anyway!” He told her.  
  
 “Alright, alright. Better luck next time, huh?”

****

The next day, around the same time as the previous days, Keith herd the bell chime and saw him walk in.

 “Third time in a row. Did the roses not work out for you?” He asked.   
  
 “Nah, they worked fine. In fact, I got a date with her. Figured I’d get her some more.” He said, walking over to the counter.

“Alright then.” Keith got down from his chair and came around the counter. “What kind are you looking to get her this time?” He asked.

 “Ya know, she really liked those roses you chose. I thought I might ley you choose these ones too.” He told him. Keith didn’t understand how someone could be trying to impress a girl yet can’t choose flowers himself. Either way, it wasn’t too much of a hassle, he could easily just choose flowers he liked. This time around he chose some red carnations. Not only did he prefer the color red, he’d also seen carnations were common to give to someone’s date.

 After the taller boy agreed to them, they went back to the counter so he could pay. While doing so, Keith noticed a tattoo on the back of his hand. A simple skull with beautiful designs on it.

 “Hey, that’s a pretty cool tattoo.” He said, pointing it out.

 “Thanks! It’s the first one I got, actually.” He smiled at Keith.

 “Really? Where’d you get it done?” He asked.

 “Right across the street. My parents own the place and I kinda work there now.”

 “That must be nice.” Keith said. He’d thought about getting a tattoo before but always decided against it. Of course, the smile this boy gave him was almost enough to convince him to go get one.

 “Yeah, it’s alright. If you’re ever looking to get a tattoo, stop by.”  
   
 “I’ll think about it, uh, what should I call you?”

 “Oh, the names Lance.” He told him with one of his room brightening smiles.

 “Alright, I’ll remember that.” Keith said with a nod.

 “Sounds good.” Lance said, taking the flowers once he’d paid. “I’ll see you later, Keith.” He told him. Keith nodded and said goodbye to him, sitting back down and relaxing. Of course he thought Lance was attractive, even if he did give some unfavorable nicknames. He wouldn’t go as far as to call it a crush, but he was definitely interested in him, a fact that had not been ignored by Allura.

 The night after the first time Lance showed up, Allura made sure to tease Keith about his so called “crush” all the way home. The next two times he came in Keith was perfectly aware of Allura watching him. He wondered if she was going to do that every time Lance came in.


	3. Chapter 3

Lance seemed to make it a habit to come visit the store and Keith was starting to get used to it. Eventually Lance stopped coming only to buy flowers and started having actual conversations with Keith. Keith actually kind of liked the company. Allura was great company of course but she wasn’t always there with Keith and the change was kind of nice. He learned early on that Lance could talk a lot, and he could ramble on for a pretty long time.

 While he appreciated the background noise, he found that the more Lance talked about himself the more he was starting to like him. Lance told him so much about himself, about his large family, about his friends, about his job. It was all really interesting, and Keith was starting to feel like he’d known hum longer than he really had. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he knew he was developing some kind of feelings for Lance.

 As for Lance, the most he knew about Keith wasn’t very much. He knew Keith’s brother was dating the store’s owner, and he knew Keith seemed to enjoy reading. Almost every week he had a different book on him. It was more than a little clear to him that Keith didn’t talk about himself too much. He also seemed one hundred percent oblivious whenever Lance would attempt to flirt with him, which he supposed was better than the usual irritated looks he got.

 At this point Lance had been coming in for almost a whole month. He came in as usual and went and leaned against the counter.

 “Afternoon, Flower Boy.” He said, smiling at him. Keith rlled his eyes and leaned forward, resting his arms on the counter.

 “I’m starting to believe you’ve forgotten my name.” Keith told him, and amused smile on his face.

 “Me? No. I don’t forget names. I improve ‘em with nicknames.” He said.

 “I wouldn’t call “Mullet Man” and improvement of Keith.”

 “Shows what you know about nicknames then.”

 “Whatever you say man.” Keith said, getting up from his chair. “Anyway, what do you need today?” He asked.

 “Nothin’, I thought I’d just stop by.” Lance shrugged.

 “Alright. Hey, whatever happened between you and that girl?” He asked.

“Huh? What girl?” Lance tilted his head.

 “That girl you were in here buying flowers for.” Keith said it like it was obvious.

 “Oh, her! Yeah uh, things didn’t work out between us.” He shrugged like it was nothing.

 “That’s too bad.” Keith said.

 “I guess. She wasn’t really my type anyway. I have my eyes on someone else anyway.” While he said this he seemed pretty interested in observing the petals on a nearby flower.

 “Already? That was quick.” Keith snickered.

 “What can I say, I work quickly.” Lance said, looking back at him and grinning.

 “Well, what’s this new girl like?” Keith asked him.

 “Hmmm… see, he’s a very pretty guy. Doesn’t talk much about himself, but I’d like to find out some more. I’ve been thinking about asking him on a date already but I’m not sure what would convince him.”

 “You’re standing in a flower shop, I’m sure something here could get this guy to go out with you.” Keith told him. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed Lance had found someone so quickly and he hadn’t even had a shot at him, but he tried to ignore it.

 “Hmm, you got a point there.” He clapped his hands together. “Work your magic then, flower boy. Get me somethin’ you know will win this guy over!”


	4. Chapter Four

The next day Lance didn’t go into the flower store to talk with Keith. Instead he stood outside and waited for him to come out. He had the flowers Keith chose the day before in hand, a bouquet of multiple red and white flowers. One of the few things he’d learned about Keith was that he seemed to like the color red. He always chose red flowers, every day he wore red high top converse, whenever he tied his hair up while working he used a red hair tie that was otherwise kept on his wrist. He wondered if he’d have to find out everything about Keith through observation.

 He didn’t wait too long before Keith walked out of the store, thankfully without Allura.

 “Hey, Keith.” He said to get his attention. He turned to look at him, a slight smile on his face.

 “Oh hey, there you are. I was wondering if I was gonna see you today.” He said. “What’s up with the flowers? Aren’t they the ones I gave you yesterday?”

 “Yeah, they are.” He said, stepping up to him.

 “Did things not go well with that guy?” He asked.

 “Well, I’m not too sure yet.”

 “What do you mean…?” He tilted his head. Lance took a deep breath, preparing himself for this. He normally didn’t get so nervous; it was usually easy for him to ask somebody out. He held the flowers out to him, staring mostly at them so he could avoid looking at Keith’s eyes.

 “Keith, would you like to go on a date with me?” He asked, a slight blush covering his face. He was forced to look him in the eye when Keith remained dead silent. He was staring at the flowers, clearly shocked, his violet eyes slightly wide and his face red up to his ears. After a painfully long, awkward silence he finally looked up at Lance.

 “I- uh, yes, I’ll go on a date with you…” He said, finally accepting the flowers. Lance breathed a sigh of relief, finally allowing himself to relax.

 “When are you free?” He asked.

 “This Saturday…” Keith told him, his face still red.

 “Awesome! I know just where to take you then.” Lance said, grinning.

 

* * *

 

 

That Saturday Lance picked up Keith from his house. He’d borrowed his older sister’s car, after listening to her threaten to _run him over_ if there was so much as a scratch on it when he got back. Upon getting to Keith’s house, a small one story house surrounded by flower bushes (Planted by Allura), and knocking on the front door, he learned Keith lived with both his brother and Allura. When Keith stepped out on to the porch and closed the door behind him Lance quickly looked him over.

 He was wearing a t-shirt with a UFO on it, along with the words “I want to believe” (Which Lance thought made him a huge dork), black pants and his usual red converse. Lance had joked about him dressing like some emo kid before but it only got him an eye roll. He smiled at him, offering him a bright red flower.

 “Aw, I see you’ve figured out my favorite color.” Keith said, taking it. The smile on his face was a small one but Lance couldn’t help but think about how much more attractive he was when he smiled.

 “I mean; it was pretty easy since you kept choosing red flowers.” Lance told him.

 “I guess that would make it a bit obvious.” Keith laughed. The left the porch and walked down the driveway to the car. Lance opened the door for Keith before going and getting in the driver’s seat.

 Lance had worried things might get awkward since the circumstances were different than their usual conversations, but it really wasn’t different at all. Keith laughed at his bad jokes, which just encouraged Lance to make more only to listen to Keith’s laugh and glance over to see him smile. After a little while Keith asked,

 “Where are you even taking me?” To which Lance replied,

 “It’s a surprise.”

 When they arrived and Lance parked he looked over and saw Keith had fixed the flower into his hair, making him prettier than he already was. Lance got out and opened Keith’s door for him again. Lance had found out there was a carnival in town and he decided that would be the best place for this date. When Keith realized where they were he grinned.

 “What do you say, did I make a good choice?” Lance asked, smiling.

 “You made a great choice actually.” Keith told him.

 They went and got their tickets before heading in, taking a quick look around. By now the sun was beginning to set, leaving the sky beautiful shades of blue, purple and pink. People around them were talking and laughing and music was playing from countless different laces. Lights were flashing from rides and game booths. Lance looked over and smiled at Keith.

 “So, what do you suggest we do first?”

* * *

 

 They ended up eating first, the smell of all that greasy fried food far too tempting, and then they played a few of the games. After Keith had won Lance a little blue Lion stuffed animal on his first try it became Lance’s mission to win Keith the red one. He went through almost half the money he had on him before he finally succeeded, proudly presenting Keith with the stuffed animal.

 “Good job.” Keith told him, laughing as he took the lion and handed Lance back his. They walked away from the booth to find something else to do, and after a little while of walking Keith pointed something out.

 “We should try that.” He said. Lance looked to where he was pointing, right at a haunted house. Now, Lance was not fond of scary things. He forced himself through horror movies to make himself seem tough around his friends but otherwise he avoided them all together. But the look Keith was giving him was enough to convince him.

 “Yeah, sure, alright.” Lance said, trying to seem relaxed about it as they went and got in line. He kept telling himself it wasn’t going to be THAT bad, but after they’d gotten inside and began the horrible walk through Lance realized no, it wasn’t going to be that bad. It was worse. The first time something jumped out at them Lance almost lost his mind, immediately looking to Keith who was _laughing._ He didn’t exactly want to make himself look like an idiot so he quickly tried to recover from that. About half way through he looked at him and said,

 “Hey, maybe we should hold hands. Ya know, so we don’t get like separated or anything.”

 “Huh? Alright.” Keith nodded, smiling as he reached over and held Lance’s hand. Lance found that definitely helped him the rest of the way through, since he was more focused on thinking _“Oh my god I’m holding his hand he’s so adorable”_ instead of focusing on the horrific sights around them. Once they were finally safe outside he relaxed, silently thanking god he was out of there. “Well, that was fun.” Keith said, still grinning. Lance didn’t understand what he found fun about it but he wasn’t fixing to challenge him.

 “So uh, what should we do next?” Lance asked him.

  “You should choose this time.” He told him. Lance took a quick look around before starting to lead Keith over to the Ferris wheel. After waiting in line they were able to get on, sitting down across from each other. He couldn’t help but immediately look to Keith, glad to see that smile still on his face.

 “You know; you look a lot prettier when you’re smiling.” He told him.

 “You think so…?” Keith asked, blushing lightly.

 “Yeah, definitely. You’re already very pretty, but when you smile it just gets so much better!” He said. As the ride started he leaned forward, smiling at him. “Like, I didn’t even know you could get prettier until the first time I saw you smile.”  By now Keith was bright red, looking out the window so he could avoid eye contact.

 “Thanks…” He said after being silent a few moments, looking back at him. After a while of it going around it began making stops to let people off one at a time. Lance figured he might as well do this quickly if he wanted it done, so when they were stopped at the very top he moved to the very edge of his seat and sat up straight before leaning towards Keith, who seemed to catch on and leaned in closer to him. Lance figured he could pull off a quick kiss but he was very wrong, because right before their lips met, the ride jerked again, therefore causing them to slam their foreheads together instead of their lips.

 Keith sat back in his seat, laughing nervously with a hand on his forehead.

 “Sorry about that…” He said, looking away from Lance who just shook his head and he sat back, slouching down a little bit.

 “No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it…” He told him. Eventually they got off the ride, once again holding hands as they walked away.

* * *

 

After they’d had their fun and gone on most of the rides offered there they left the carnival, and Lance drove Keith back home. Once there he walked him up to his front door. Keith let go of his hand once they were on the porch and smiled at him.

 “I had a lot of fun… thank you.” He told him.

 “Hey, no problem. But uh, do you think maybe you’d like to do something like this again? I had a lot of fun too.” He said, smiling back at him.

 “I would love that.” He said with a nod. “Would it be ok if I gave you something before I left?” He asked.

 “Sure, go ahead.” Lance told him. Keith hesitated before leaning up and giving him a very quick peck on the lips.

 “I’ll see you later Lance, goodnight.” Keith told him with a smile before going inside, leaving Lance standing there with his face as red as it could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy frick I've had such a busy week and sudden writers block but here's this dump

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry if this is ooc I've never written a fanfic in my life


End file.
